On Monday evening, 18 August 1811, a ‘truly wanton and barbarous murder was perpetrated in the vicinity of Gort’ on a man named Flin, of Thomond Gate, Limerick, who had been engaged as a stone cutter on Colonel Vereker’s new buildings at Tierlohan (sic Tiraloughan). The man, ‘a stranger in this part of the country’ had been in his new employment looked upon as a marked object of ‘invidious jealousy’ and having sought ‘opportunity to forward a fatal purpose, he was, on his return from the fair of Gort on that evening, way laid by some inhuman monsters, who committed this horrid deed in the presence of his distracted wife, who, after witnessing the dreadful transaction, was treated with such violent abuse, that she was yesterday morning (Wednesday) scarcely recovered enough’ to see his remains conveyed to Limerick.
Peter Larkin was charged with the wilful murder of his 2 sons, Bernard (15) and Martin (12) Larkin at Shanaglish, on 20 June 1844. An inquest was held on Saturday, 22 June 1844, at a packed court house in Gort before T. Walsh Esq., coroner, and a ‘respectable jury of the town’, which after testimony from numerous witnesses, eventually returned a verdict of ‘wilful murder against Peter Larkin’. A second court date was heard in Galway during the Summer Assizes, before Judge Baron Lefroy on 1 August 1844. The following account is based on witness testimony given at both trials.
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AuthorMy name is Eamon Healy and I work as a professional genealogist. I enjoy researching all things local history, and have a particular interest in Beagh, primarily because I can trace my family history to the parish back to the late 1780s. I hope to share my findings here in my blog posts Archives
November 2020
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